Drop-stitch knitting-machine.



J. LAWSON.

DROP STITCH KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1911.

LlQU Q Wm Patented May 18, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET I.

llllll v I I l l l I 0 O1 1 1 1 I d I u I [i i l g-,

c I i I WITNESSES. INVENTOR.

M K John Lawson.

J. LAWSUN.

DROP STITCH KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1911.

LILQChQ'YGR Patented May 18, 191;

5 SHEETSSHEET a.

fa m IHHIH Hlllill MAI 1H N4 IIIHHMIIll lllllllllll n; n

IHHWHII\Immnmummn INVENTORn WITNESSES.

John LazuSom J. LAWSON.

DROP STITCH KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1911.

l 9 14I 27 UO Patented May 18, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

I I x I I I I WITNESSES. INvENToR,

%m ZZZ @M/s IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIII J. LAWSON.

DROP STITCH KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, I911. 1914L92?Oo 18, 5 EEEEEEEEEEEE 5.

m "mmnmm mTfiu llllllll [TIT III IIHIII HHHIN TMHW All li m 0 all . MLTJ (I n J Jr a at MIT mum 72 HIIUTI' 1 J07: 04205072 W 1 ym JOHN LAWSON, OF CENTRAL FALLS, RHODE ISLAND.

DROP-STITCH KNITTING-MACHINE,

ToaZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN LAwsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Central Falls, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drop-Stitch Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic c1 rcular knitting machines of the class more especially adapted for knitting drop-stitch hosiery.

The object of the invention is to provide a circular knitting-machine of the rotary" needle-cylinder type with means for producing automatically what may be termed an all round drop-stitch stocking, that is, a stocking having its entire leg portion or tubular partfiprovided throughout its circumference with a plurality of connected,

suitably spaced series or groups of both plain and drop stitches, alternating wlth each other, each of said series consisting of a number of vlongitudinal rows of plain stitches and one or-more rows of dropstitches; the latter corresponding with the number of the then inactive or omitted needles, and having the knitting pro- I duced' in a continuous circular manner from the main thread by the use of plain or ordinary latch needles. The rows of sald plain and drop stitches thus formed in they back of the leg part terminate at or before the commencement of the heel; that is to say, parts of the courses of plain stitches may, if desired, be produced in the back of 1 the leg to form therein what is termed a high-splice. The rows of plain and drop stitches in the front part of the leg con tinue downward uninterruptedly throughout the'upper part of the foot portion and terminate at the toe part. The said plain heel andf toe portions, are or may, if desired, be knitted from a heavier or different kind of thread than the main thread employed in the tubular portions of the'stocking. The sole portion, aslwell asthe upper part'ofthe foot, are produced in'a continuous circular manner from themaijn thread'; ther ole part in such case consists" of semicircular courses of plain stitches, while the .top or upper part rofpthe foot consistsfo'f' semi-circular courses of combined plain and Specification of Iietters Patent.

' Patented May is, was.

Application filed November 8, 1911. Serial No. (559,117,

drop stitches, as before stated, If desired, the foot may have a double sole, that is, a sole produced from different or heavier yarn. I

In the present invention and in order to produce in the stocking described longitudinal lines 01' rows of plain and drop stitches, or open work, certain of the needles are omitted altogether from one-half of the circumference of the needle-cylinder. These vacant needle-grooves correspond with the continuous longitudinal lines 'of dropstitches formedin the front of the tubular leg part and also in the upper portion of the foot .part of the stocking.

In adapting'the machine to produce lines of drop stitches in the back part of the leg,

the corresponding needle-grooves in that half of: the cylinder are provided with ricedles; these latter, however, are temporarily inactive or dropped ,during the knitting of I the back ofthe leg, and are moved upward into normal knitting position to cooperate with the 'othei"n'eedle's in the corresponding semi-circumference of the cylinder, so as to be acted u on as usual in roducing the heel and toe and also the so e part'of the tubular foot. 'lt-is obvious, therefore, that the foot portion consists of continuous circular courses of stitches, one-half of each course (the sole part) being knit wholly of plain or ordinary stitches; the otheror upper half ofeach course consisting of a con nected series of both plain and drop-stitches.

I am aware. that certain types of stocking-knitting machineshave been devised for producing lines of drop-stitches in portlons My present invention relates more especially to means adapted to produce on a full automatic knitting machine of the revo; luble needle-cylinder type stockings having dropfstitches. My said improvements are comparatively simple and inexpensive,- as

of the web. r '1 compared with means employed in other types of circular knitting machines forproducing drop-stitch work.

' In the fiye, accompanying sheets of drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 represents, in front side elevation, POItlOIlS of an automatic circular s tockingknitting machine; the iposition'ja'nd relationfo f the devices corresponding to the knitting of the -40 lar view showing the long butt needles being leg part of a stocking having all-around drop-stitches. Fig. 2 is a corresponding end elevation, in reduced scale,'viewed from'the left of Fig. 1, some of the partsbeing omit-w dle-deflecting device in aetiongfas at the:ter

mination of the stocking. Fig. 8 repres eiits an elevation of the development of a por tion of the ring-cam, viewed from its mner face, corresponding with Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a.

similar view of the cam-ring, &c., when the cylinder is being reciprocated. Fig. 10 shows the position of the needles and camring while the foot part is being made. Fig. 11 is an enlarged horizontal section showing a portion of the cylinder and the arrangement of the needle-less and needle-carrying grooves; Fig. 12 shows, in enlarged scale, a

portion of the web of the leg part of the stocking. Fig; 13 is a partial exterior development, indicating the cylinder and camring and showing the arrangement and posi tion .of needles and earns corresponding to the commencement of the top of the leg part of a stocking. Fig. 14 is a'similar view showing the relation of the said elements as I they would appearin changing from the lower end of the leg part to the beginningof the heel, the short-butt needles then being moved upward into action. 'Fig. 15 is a simimoved upward out of knitting action. Fig. 16 is a vertical section, taken on line 1616 of Fig. 15, showing short-butt needles deflected into the circular groove communicating with the V-cam, and Fig. 17 represents three types of needles and the two formsof j acks.

It maybe stated here thatthe improvements or devices forming thesubject of this application for patent may be adapted to be employed in connection with the circular automatic stocking-knitting machine patented to J. 'D. Hemphill, September 7, 1909,

No. 933,443, to which patent reference mayv be made.v llhat is to say, in said patented knitting-machine the devices for efiecting and controlling the rotary and reciprocatory movements of the needle-cylinder, the yarn A changing and feeding means, the main or ring cam and knitting cams, the action of the narrowing and widening pickers, the action of the instep-cam, and means for varying the length of the stitches, all remain substantially the same as though plain knit-.

ted stocln'ngs were being produced. In the production of fancy or drop-stitch stockin'gs on said machine, or other analogous knitting machines, certain changes on improvements are necessarily introduced. These latter form the basis of this application for patent. g

The needle-cylinder N is mounted and capable of being actuated both in a revoluble and rotary reciprocatory manner, substantially as in making 'the usual leg and ,heel

portions of astoeking. In the present invention, however, wherein the machine is adapted to produce all-round drop-stitchstockings, the cylinder is materially lengthened to form .an increased space between the lower face of'the usual stitch-varying, vertically movable cam-plate H and the upper face of the stationary table a positioned below said cam-plate, to receive in certain of the needle-grooves of the cylinder long and short-butt needle-jacks j and f respectively. In this space below the cam-plate is mounted a radially movable jack-cam m.

-.The latter, when positioned outward, as

shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, freely permits the passage .of the butts of both forms of jacks between its inner face and the revolu ble cylinder, but when partially moved inward to the medium position, cam m is engaged only by the'long-butt jacks j, and

when standing inthe extreme inward po-' sition, the cam surface is capable of being iingaged by the butts of all the jacks-see he needle-cylinder is or niay be provided un1- cireumferentially throughout with formly spaced "grooves for the knitting- .needles as usual, but in order to produce longitudinal rows of drop-stitches at certain points in the front half of the leg part of the stocking,'so1ne ofthe needles may be omitted altogether from the corresponding grooves That is to say, assuming the cylinder to be provided with 2:20 grooves, forming 22 groups, each comprising 10 grooves,

or 11' groups in each semi-circumference, and assum ng further that in one-half w of the cylinder, each of its 11 groups consists of 8 grooves having 8 long-butt nee: dles n therein and two permanent needlel'ess grooves, 11., and having needles mounted in cylinder, wherein each of its 11 groups consists of 8 needles having medium-butts n and two needles having short-butts n see Fig. 11. stocking adapted to be produced on the ma- As thus arranged, the web or chine would consist of series or groups of continuous longitudinal rows of alternating plain and drop-stitches r and 1' (Fig.'12) throughout the 'f-front half of the leg and upper half of the foot part; it being borne in mind that the long-butt'needles n are employed only in knitting this half of the all the grooves of the other half 50 of-the measrc stocking. At the same time the medium-butt needles in the other half of the cylinder produce similar rows of plain and drop-stitches.

in the back half of the leg (the short-butt needles then beingtemporarily, inoperative) down to the commencement of the high-.

splice (see Fig. 8.), or, when the latter is.

- in the upper part of the foot parallel longi- .tudinal rows of plain'and drop stitches, as before stated, and also the plain sole or bottom portion. See Fig. 10. Duringthe production of the said sole allthemedium and short-butt needles 01. 11. are meanwhile in normal knitting action. The manner of knitting the toe-pocket is substantially the same as employed in making the heel.

Each pair of individual short-butt neecated diametrically opposite the corresponding pair of needleless grooves n of the other half. In the lower portion of the grooves carrying the respective pairs of short-butt needles are slidably mounted corresponding pairs of needle-jacks, j, 7' arranged to engage the said needles 4?? and move them upwardly by means of the automatically positioned radially movable jack-cam m; the jacks of each pair have butts differing in length. I prefer to arrange the jacks so that the jack j, having the longer butt, of

each pair, is positioned in advance of the shorter one, relatively to the normal circular movement of the needle-cylinder, so that the depressed jacks j will first engage the cam m (then in its mid position) and move the corresponding short-butt needles upward into normal knitting position and action while the cylinder N makes one revolution; the next succeeding revolution of the machine placing the cam m in the full inward position so that the other depressed companion jacks will next engage cam m and successively move the companion needles 02. upward into normal knitting position and action also. The reason for moving the forward jack and needle of each pair upward immediately in advance of the respective companion jacks j and needles n is that it produces in the web a'smoother and neater appearance at the juncture line or point where solid or close knitting is resumed.

The means illustrated for controlling the movements of the jack-cam m comprise a disk-like cam 0' secured to the left end of the dles n of the one-half of the cylinder are lointermittingly movable main drum or pattern shaft ska tiltingly mounted horizontal lever 01 having its front end in continuous yielding engagement with the periphery of disk-cam 0, a connection (1 jointed to the rear end of the lever and to an arm of a movable bell-crank lever (Z the other arm. of the latter being in turn jointed to a horizontal link 03 whose front end is jointed to a bent fulcrumed lever d, having its other end operatively connected to the foot or base we of the vertical A-shaped cam m radially movable in the table a See Figs. 2, 3, and 4:. The engagement of lever 03 with the cam surfaces or lugs 0 c 0 places the cam m in the outward, mid and inward positions, respectively, with respect to the outer face of the lower portion of the needle-cylinder. A spring d (Fig. 3) is employed to insure the engagement of the lever with the camlugs. The long-butt jacks j (assuming the needle-cylinder to be normally rotating) are adapted to first successively engage the inclined edge of cam m when the latter is in the mid-position, as before stated, thereby moving upward into action the correspond- 'iiig short-butt needles of each pair. Coin cidently with the next turn of the cylinder N the cam m is automatically moved to the full inward position, whereby the short-butt jacks 3' engage the cam to move upward the other or companion short-butt needles into the hitting plane see1Fig. 6. Obviously, when the cam m isin the extreme outward position the short-butt needles, upon being 1 depressed below the normal casting-0E point, act at the same time to depress all the jacks, the butt portions of the latter then freely moving circularly in the space lying between the adjacent faces of the cylinder and cam, as clearly shown, in Fig. 5.

The long-butt needles are adapted to be moved into and out of the normal knitting plane, substantially as shown and described in the patent before referred to. In the present machine, however, some of the needle-grooves in one-half of the circumference of the cylinder (as at n", Fig. 11) are needleless, whereby the machine is adapted to positively produce drop-stitch work in the web at points where the needles are thus omitted. The drawing represents said half of the cylinder as having 11 groups, each group comprising 8 needles and 2 vacant grooves; In knitting the heel and toe parts, the cylinder then having a reciprocatory motion, the act of moving the usual gearclutch b from the quick-speed side to the slow-speed side, causes the horizontal link 6 jointed to the upper end of clutch-lever b and to an arm of the bell-crank lever e, to move the vertically guided instep-cam F upward, since the latter is jointed to the other arm of said lever 6, thereby correspondingly moving all the long-butt needles upward out of knitting action. While the cylinder is thus reciprocating, all the medium-butt and short-butt needles, in cooperation with narrowing and widening p ckers, are in action to produce the heel part. Upon the completion of the latter,

. and at, the time of shiftingthe clutch-back to resume quick-speed continuous rotary movement of the cylinder, the long-butt needles n are dropped to the normal level,

that is to the upper edge of the cam-ring M secured tothe upper face of cam-plate H.

(see Figs. 7 and 10). The, machine now is adapted to produce the foot part of a stock-:

ing, in whichthe upper portion will consist of alternate groups of longitudinal rows of plain and drop stitches, and the lower or sole part of plain or ordinary stitches. During the latter operation the medium-butt and short-butt needles are in continuous knitting action; the j ack-cam being still in the outward position. v

After, completing the toe part and in order to produce a few, terminal or looper courses corresponding to all-round dropstitch (work, similar to that formed in the front and back of the leg part, all the needles are deflected downward by the then angularly'tipped cam member k, that is, the

several 'needle butt s are caused to engage the ;under side of cam 72. and are guided to the inclined sides of a suitably disposed V-shaped or cam opening a formed in the wall of the circular ring M, and having the bottom of said opening extending to .or below the plane of the casting-0E point of the knitting or stitch-cams. The inner, face of the relatively stationary ring-cam providedwwith a horizontal, shallow c rcular groove Ia? having its I ends in continuous open communication-with the apex of the a cam 71. for successively deflecting all the" ing tothe normal knitting level again. The" butts of all the short-butt needles, however,- instead of being thus guided upward, pass,

from cam h into groove a thereby causing the last-named needles to move the respective needle-elevating jacks downward to be acted upon by the jack cam-m. Obviously, cam m is in the normal outward, position while the jacks are being thus depressed.

The means illustrated and employed for actuating and controlling the movements of needles into the. said V-shaped opening a (the cylinder .then being in rotary action) may be described as followsfTo the per'iphery of the barrel-cantor drum 1, Fig. 1, se-' cured to the intermittingly movableshaft s is fixed a narrow,suitably-disposed lug f and to the rear of saiddrumis located auningly mounted leverf? having itsfront end arranged in the circular path of and being in normal yielding? engagement with the periphery of the 'drum, and adapted tobe actuated by the lug whenever the latter and said end portion of'the lever 'arefiin juxtaposition. A link 7?" is'connected to the opposite end of the ti'ltinglever 'afid extends upward to the outer end of 'a'f'hor'izonta'l lever lever g, fulcrumedto'a bracket f See cured to and movable-with theicam-plate H. The opposite end of lever g is bent and jointed to the rear portion of a cam-lever h, in turn pivoted to a lateral eari of the 'hous- I ing of the said instep-cam." The*under side of the outer or free e'nd portion of 'lever h is so shaped and arrangedwithrelation to the needle-butts and V-shaped opening a that the coaction of thelug'fB'lever'P, &c'., moves the said free end" of lever h downward into the path of the needle-butts, thereby automatically and successively deflecting the needles'into the'said cam cn'f as before stated. The thus depressed needles, 'n are' adapted to produce drop-stitches'in' the corresponding portion'offthe web, being the back part of the leg, untilthey' are again elevated to the knitting planeby the jacks."

See Figs. 9 and 10',"-'which show thecorre' sponding position o'fthe upper'portion of the jacks. Upon moving' thefsaid cara -lug f from contact with. lever g the reaction of the coil spring 1) bearing 'a'gainstfa collar p adjustably securedto'thesaid'vertical link j, automatically returns the tilting cam lever 72. to its horizontal or normal position againsee Figs. 1, 14"an'd 15. I

Description of mamiez' Yof prodded d g the stocking fromrtart to Assuming. the production 'to'be a 'ladys hose, and also assuming. that thevarious knitting threads are introduced to the needles and knitting-cams as usual,"t heoperation is substantiallyas follows T0 Mail? the leg portion.- The "need1e-c 1,-'= inder has a seriesof uni'formlyspaced va-' cant or needleless groovesn' in one-half, m .of its circumference; all the otherfgroovesf ofsaid half carrying long-butt needles"j'n;-,j and having the groove's'of the other crop-- posite semi-circumference, filled with metrically opposite the vacant" grooves 11..

Now, upon normally revolvingthe cylinderand introducing the thread all the 'r'ieedles" are caused to engageith'e stitch-camsand knit, except the" {temporarily lfdeprsdl needles n -these latter be ng" Previously id-j flected into groove a not ringcam M, and

below the stitch cams by the" then short butt needles a and- "mediumfbutt' needles 1:},- the said needles n being *d'ia-" or dog It; cams F, It and m now being in the position shown in Fig. 13; the cam m being outward so as to permit the jacks, forced downward by needles W, to rotate freely past its inner face. The corresponding needle-wave is also indicated in Fig. 13. The continued rotary action of the cylinder,

&c., is adapted to produce a continuous openof the web in the usual manner, see Figs.

9 and 15, the latter figure showing'the position of the cams. At the termination of the heel the cylinder is caused to rotate at its normal rate of speed, the cam F dropped to deflect needles n into action, the cam 72 remaining in the horizontal position with needles 7?? still in action.

In producing the foot part7 drop-stitches are formed in the upper portion and regular 'or normal knitting in the sole part. Fig.

10 indicates the corresponding position of the needles when the foot part is being knitted.

In knitting the toe portion the needles n, 12 still continue in action, all the long-butt needles n being moved up out of action by cam F; the knitting being efiected in substantiallythe same manner as employed in knitting the heel. See also Figs-9 and 15, cam m being outward. 1

Upon dropping the stocking from the machine and reintroducing the knittingthreads to the needles of the still revolving cylinder the machine is inposition to repeat theoperation of knitting all-round courses of drop-stitches at thecommencement of the next stocking, the production of stockings of this class being successively and automatically continued.

' In producing half-hose the operations of knitting the leg, splice, heel, foot and toe are substantially the same as hereinbefore described, except that in half-hose Work the machine 1s stopped after dropping the hose therefrom, while a previously knitted tu- 'bular top or 0nd mounted on the points or quills of a transfer-ring is. temporarily placed on top of the cylinder and over the needles 7 n employed in knittingall round courses of drop-stitches, which are moved upward in the quills, followed by removing the transfer-ring, thereby transferring the loops or stitches of thetop to the said needles, and

starting the machine the transference of top to the leg part of half-hose being a well- 4 known process. 7

When high-splicing is to be produced in the stocking the all-round drop-stitch knitting ceases at the point where the high splic ing begins in the lower portion of the leg part, the cylinder N still continuing in rotary action to produce thedesi'red length of said splicing. Upon changing or introducing the splicing thread the short butt needles #2 are reinstated into knitting action by the temporarily inwardly positioned cam m, the relation and action of other needles n and n remaining unchanged. At the termination of the said splicing operation, being the commencement of the heel, the cylinder is caused, to reciprocate, and the needles n moved upward out of knitting action, the latter being effected by cam F in the usual way, or, as before stated, relatively to the heel production.

It may be explained that in the foregoing description the production of the stocking or web begins at the top of the leg part and terminates at the end of the toe part; the work as knitted passing downward inverted through the cylinder and drops from the underside of the machine.

I claim as my invention 1. In an automatic knitting machine provided with a revoluble needle-cylinder, knitting-cams, and means for normally actuating the same, the combination therewith of groups of long, medium and short-butt needles mounted in said cylinder, jacks vertically mounted in the cylinder grooves carrying the short-butt needles, the latter,'when idle, normally resting on the upper end of the jacks, a radially movable jack-cam disposed at the base of the cylinder, a main cam-shaft, means for moving said shaft in an intermittent angular manner, and means,

i actuated by said shaft, for moving said jackcam into position to be engaged by the jacks in the revolving cylinder,'whereby the shortbutt needles are moved upward into knitting action.-

2. In an automatic knitting-machine of the general character described, provided with a revoluble needle-carrying cylinder having some of its needle-grooves needleless, and devices co-operable with the same adapted to produce longitudinal rows of plain stitches, the combination therewith of suitably disposed jacks mounted in grooves formed in the needlecylinder, short-butt needles mounted in said jack-carrying grooves and in alinement therewith, a radially movable jack-cam'for temporarily elevating the jacks to place said short-butt needles in the normal knitting plane, means for positioning said jack-cam, means for elevating above the knitting plane other or long-butt needles to render them idle, as

when the cylinder is reciprocating in pro being arranged in the cylinder in grooves ducing the heel and toe parts of a stocking, means for successively moving all the needles downward below the'normal knitting plane, and means for elevating all the needles, except the short-butt jack-needles, back to the normal knitting plane.

3. In a drop-stitch knitting-machine of the general character described, the combination of a revoluble knitting-cylinder having mounted in one portion of its circumference a plurality of groups of long-butt needles, each group alternating with one or more needleless grooves, and having mounted in the other portion of the cylinder a plurality of groups of both medium and short-butt needles, the short-butt needles diametrically opposite the said needleless grooves, means adapted to cooperate with the mediunrbutt and'long-butt needles to produce a knitted tubular web having dropstitches in one portion thereof, jacks mounted in the same grooves in which the shortbutt needles are placed, means for elevating the jacks to-place the short-butt needles upward in knitting action, and means for moving the short-butt needles downward below the knitting plane to render them temporarily inoperative in order to produce corresponding rows of drop-stitches in the back of the leg part of the stocking.

4. In a drop-stitch knitting-machine of the general character described, the combination with a revoluble knitting-cylinder having groups of suitably arranged long, medium and short-butt needles mounted therein, of jacks mounted in the cylindergrooves in which the said short-butt needles are located, a jack-cam movably positioned at the base of the cylinder, an intermittingly movable main cam-shaft, and means actuated by said shaft for changing the position of the jack cam both inward and outward, whereby when moved inward the jacks, upon engaging the cam, are deflectedupward to place the short-butt needles in knittin action, and when positioned outward, the] acks are adapted to freely move in the space thus formed between the outer face ofthe cylinder and the inner face of the cam.

5. In a revoluble needle-cylinder dropstitch knitting machine of the general character described, the said cylinder having groups of long, medium and short-butt needles and needle+jacks mounted therein, said jacks being disposed in the grooves carrying the short-butt needles, and an intermittingly movable main cam-shaft, the combination therewith of a stepped cam fixed to said shaft, and a radially movable jack-cam positioned at the base of the needle-cylinder and actuated and controlled by the stepped cam, whereby, when in use, the jack-cam is caused to be positioned inward at predetermined intervals to deflect the jacks upward, thereby moving the short-butt needles into the knitting plane.

6. In a revoluble needle-cylinder dropstitch knitting machine of the general character described, the said cylinder having spaced groups of long, medium and shortb-utt needles and needle-jacks mounted therein, said jacks being disposed in the grooves carrying the short-butt needles, and an intermittingly movable main cam-shaft, the combination therewith of a relatively stationary cam-ring disposed above said jacks and encircling the needle-cylinder having an open substantially V-shaped recess formed in its wall, a relatively stationary pivotally mounted ldefiector lever located above and adjacent said recess, and means controlled by said main cam-shaft for actuating said deflector-lever, whereby the latter, in cooperation with the revolving needle-cylinder, is caused to be engaged by the butts of all the needles and automatically deflect them downward from the normal knitting level into said V-shaped recess.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my Signature in presence of two witnesses.

7 JOHN LAWSON. Witnesses: v

Gno. REMINGTON, CALVIN H. BROWN. 

